SIGHT & SOUND
A string of blockbusters
Amita Malik

Gen-Next might not remember an era when Doordarshan had a channel monopoly and also a monopoly on showing feature films on TV. But its monopoly did not protect it from the dictates of the film-makers who laid down the law as far as release of their films on TV was concerned: a long period had to elapse before a successful feature film released in cinemas could be shown on the small screen. They said that if viewers could see feature films so soon on TV, who would want to go to the cinema? So DD took the easy way out: it started showing all the flop films down the years, long forgotten flops which their makers had written off. Their producers were delighted but viewers felt totally let down.

But times have changed. And those viewers who find cinema tickets too exorbitant or queuing for tickets or fighting one’s way down the aisles physically challenging are now happy to find that some great classics as well as recent successes are now being shown regularly. Now, one can keep up with contemporary trends in film-making.

And ironically enough, Doordarshan is now among the channels which are regularly showing good feature films. And while the makers of blockbusters are happy as long as their stars get coverage on TV and as long as their films are not released on the small screen, makers of small budget "different" films — in theme and style — are also happy that the small screen is acting like the film societies of earlier days and keeping film buffs as well as the more serious members of Gen-Next involved in serious cinema.

So in the last few months one has seen Sholay, Do Bigha Zameen and my favourite Gol Maal, which I am not ashamed to say I saw for the umpteenth time last week and enjoyed every moment of the Amol Palekar-Utpal Dutt encounter. With his new avatar of making films about ghosts and homosexuals, one tends to forget the lovely boy-next-door roles Amol Palekar played for Hrishida or the simple themes in Marathi contexts that he directed. It is so good to see his old films again.

Gen-Next also needs to be acquainted with great actors like Balraj Sahni, who worked for the BBC in London but played to perfection the role of a humble rickshaw-puller on the streets of Calcutta. He was back in Chetan Anand’s classic war film Haqeeqat last week and viewers must have been grateful, as this columnist was, for a chance to see this old classic.

At one time, all over the world, there was a fear that TV would wipe out the big screen. But in the ultimate analysis, the two screens have learnt to co-exist, to the benefit of not only viewers but also producers.

The big events of last week were the Mumbai trials, the hounding of Bina Ramani, and, of course, our man in Havana, the PM and his historic meeting with Fidel Castro. Alas, there was not a visual of the meeting, but NDTV’s Barkha Dutt, filing away like mad, was soon followed by rival channels, not always so well connected. The Mumbai trials were also meticulously followed and even if some excited reporters stuttered and stammered (well channels no longer seem to care for trained reporters), one had to be content.

The cricket Tri-series in Kuala Lumpur dominated sports with Kolkata’s Sunfeast Open tennis coming a poor second. And, then there was KPS Gill’s classic comment on Indian hockey: "One must keep on losing before one can win," One can only say Amen.

If I return to the horrifies of ads, obtruding on sports, one must begin with DD, which started it all in its monopolistic days by showing more advertisement than sport and cutting in with brutal greed combined with ignorance. Last week I referred to Ten Sports robbing viewers of vital moments of tennis. Last week it was the turn of Zee Sports.

Not content with fobbing off viewers with glam girls with forced smiles and diaphanous dresses treating us to quizzes, endless sponsors ads and leaving the top cricket commentators smiling but frustrated, we had a new addition to ad stupidity. They are always thinking of new ways to harass the poor viewer and this time Zee capped it all by doing something which is a record for even Indian TV. It showed ads not only on top of the screen while play was on but also imposed the visuals of ads on the heads and faces of players while they were actually playing. This is not only unforgivable but also an insult to viewers. And cutting off the end of an over, depriving viewers of a chance to see fall of a wicket, let alone hear the experts analyse the play between overs can be described as a crime. But no one, least of all the moralistic I and B Ministry, seems to care.